


Keeping It Professional

by caynaise



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Character Study, F/F, sneaking in my rinarisayo agenda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23420995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caynaise/pseuds/caynaise
Summary: In which Arisa gets princess carried, and Sayo has ulterior motives.
Relationships: Hikawa Sayo/Ichigaya Arisa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	Keeping It Professional

**Author's Note:**

> I now ship Arisa with 3/5 of Roselia what's new

For a long time, being fascinated by other people was not an indulgence Sayo allowed herself. That was _Hina’s_ thing, and therefore all the more reason to stay as far away from it as possible. She didn’t need another reason to be jealous of her more talented half, who could so freely compare herself to others without raging insecurity clawing down her throat.

Bur ever since Roselia almost broke up and knitted back together along with her own troubled relationship with her sister, Sayo has relented. People-watching can be quite the stimulating exercise when she has free time on her hands.

That said, she doesn’t exactly _mean_ to notice the student council secretary’s habits. After all, there’s a certain level of familiarity that’s bound to develop between people who share a workspace regularly. Sayo certainly knows her bandmates well—why should this be any different?

The small blonde girl who sits across the table from her is a study in controlled restlessness. Bottom lip between teeth, fingers picking at cuffs and twirling hair, nails leaving indents in pen grips. Minute movements that don’t disturb the silence—the sorts of things Rinko does when she’s nervous, only Arisa does them when she’s focused too. It’s a little difficult for Sayo to imagine focus being anything but stillness and a mind honed like the pointed tip of an arrow.

Sometimes Sayo sees Arisa out in the courtyard or at CiRCLE with Poppin’Party and she’s loud and bold and demanding and everything she tries not to be in the council room, before someone (Sayo herself on occasion) enters the scene and she caves inwards into meekness again. It happens without interruption from outsiders too—a smug remark from one of the bandmates is often enough to send her into a bout of blushing and stammering. 

While Sayo would stop short of using the term ‘boppin’,’ the sentiment behind Hina’s nonsensical comments about people is gaining clarity in her mind. Sayo is definitely intrigued.

So when she walks past the gym storeroom and spots Arisa half-hidden behind a pile of mats, looking furtively around her, it seems natural to pause and ask if she needs help. 

Yet Arisa is suspiciously more bothered by the simple question than the situation warrants. She jumps, then wobbles and catches at the high jump stand. “S-Sayo-senpai! No, I’m fine, thank you!”

Sayo eyes her doubtfully. “Are you sure? If you’re moving the equipment, I’d best lend you a hand.”

“No, um—I was just … leaving, actually!” Inexplicably flustered, Arisa attempts to squeeze past her with—to her credit—some reasonably well-disguised hobbling.

“Ichigaya-san, is there any particular reason you’re—” Sayo’s gaze cuts to her feet. “Did you perhaps injure yourself?”

“Guh!”

_She’s surprisingly easy to read sometimes,_ Sayo reflects, though sense kicks in before any more unnecessary thoughts can seize her. “That’s quite all right. Accidents happen, though you should be more careful in the future. I’ll accompany you to the nurse’s office.”

“You don’t need to waste your time doing that …” Arisa takes a step. It looks like it hurts.

“Not an issue.” An idea comes to Sayo’s mind, and she adds, “Though of course, it would be more efficient if, say, I carried you.”

There’s a pause. Balanced on one leg, and not being athletically inclined in the first place, Arisa almost falls over for about the fifth time in the span of a minute. “I-I’m sorry?”

“I’m suggesting I carry you,” Sayo articulates, hoping her professional tone isn’t undermined by the telltale warmth in her cheeks. After all, she’s only stating truths. “If you’re worried about my ability to do that—”

“No, I’m not! That’s not the problem!”

“Then …”

Sayo hears something along the lines of ‘embarrassing’ and ‘people looking,’ and is reminded of Rinko again. It’s somewhat reassuring to have a point of reference. 

“You were planning on hiding here, correct? Can you think of a better alternative?” She consults her phone. “Not to mention the next class is arriving in about four minutes.”

At that revelation, Arisa lets a vulgar word slip. Sayo decides to overlook it on the grounds of mental turmoil. 

In no time at all the damsel in (very visible) distress is in her arms, flaming face in her hands, muttering, “Just kill me now” as soon as she’s out of profanities. Mercifully, though Arisa wouldn’t have seen anyway, the grounds and corridors are largely empty. 

Sayo, for her part, is true to her word and makes the trip as quick and easy as her strength allows. She does, however, have her limits. And a healthy sense of duty. Setting Arisa down on a chair in the nurse’s office, she rebukes lightly, “Language, Ichigaya-san.”

“Sorry …”

Even in her sympathy, Sayo isn’t quite sure why she finds all of this amusing.

* * *

The following weekend, she begins to question whether a combination of business, concern and mere interest should get her as far as the front gate of the Ichigaya residence. Passable, she decides. 

She isn’t so certain when she goes further than the gate, and the questioning only gets louder the deeper she strays into new territory. 

“Sayo-senpai …” Arisa’s discomfort, radiating from behind the counter where she sits with a crutch next to the wall, is _not_ helping. “I don’t mean to be rude, but was there something else you wanted?”

Was there? Sayo had inquired about Arisa’s health, they’d exchanged a few words concerning school documents, and then, not entirely sure what to do with herself, Sayo wandered around inspecting the items on display in the shop. 

She straightens up from scrutinising a row of Daruma dolls. “I … suppose I was wondering whether you minded staying put when you’d made other plans, as I recall.”

“Oh. Right. Some of the Haneoka girls did want me to go bowling with them, but I don’t mind. This isn’t uh, anything new.” Arisa shifts in her chair, averting her gaze. 

Sayo watches her discreetly. “Do I make you uncomfortable, Ichigaya-san?”

“E-Eh? No—I mean—”

“If you’d like me to leave, I will.”

“That’s not—It’s more like there are better places to be than here and …” Arisa clears her throat and tries to brush off her behaviour with levity. “Look, sometimes you think about what past you did and cringe, that’s all.”

Still, that Sayo does understand. She nods, remembering closed doors and bandaged fingers and an all-consuming hunger that made her angry and bitter. “I apologise. I know the feeling.”

Arisa shakes her head. “Anyway, you probably think I’m some sort of human disaster, truanting and then getting roped into Kasumi’s band. Haha …”

“Why would I think that? Is there a problem with the band?”

“W-Well, not _exactly,_ but … you’re just so … together. On top of things. You’re a role model and a leader and Roselia’s guitarist and I thought …”

Sayo stares at her, processing the fact that part of Arisa’s inability to look her in the eye at times is in fact … admiration? Being on the receiving end of it feels different now, compared to before when it was Hina chasing after her and Sayo slamming down stop signs at every turn. “Ichigaya-san, I only govern my life so rigidly because that’s the way I’ve always done it.” _And because I really don’t know otherwise._ “There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about liking structure.”

“Are you kidding?” says Arisa. “People would sell their houses to be like you. Well. That’d be sorta counterproductive, but …”

“I’m not kidding.” For some reason, Sayo is enjoying Arisa’s well-meaning blunders more than she’s willing to admit. “I respect people like Toyama-san who can throw planning out the window for new opportunities, even if her homework suffers for it at times. You've been a great help to her, haven't you?” 

“That’s … _Someone_ has to keep her in check.”

Returning to the counter, Sayo rests her elbows on its surface, fingers drumming absently. “In any case, you’ve more than proven that you’re a valuable member of the student representative body. What you do or did outside of that isn’t really for me to judge.” She stops, considering. That doesn’t sound quite right. “Not as a fellow council member, I mean.”

It’s a bit like a flower bud opening, the way Arisa raises her eyes. “So …”

“So,” Sayo echoes with a smile, “I’m just here as Sayo Hikawa today. And I would like to be educated on the finer points of Edo pottery, if you’d so kindly oblige me.”


End file.
